Named a Center of Excellence™ in Nursing Education for creating environments that enhance student learning and professional development

Named a Center of Excellence™ in Nursing Education for creating environments that enhance student learning and professional development

Overview

Earn your master’s degree in nursing informatics online, and on a schedule that fits your life.

Information is power. Healthcare organizations thrive when data and information are at the center of decision-making. The more data you have—and the better you are at analyzing that data—the more you can improve the health of individuals and populations.

That’s where nursing informatics comes in.

An outstanding nurse informatics specialist combines nursing science with the ability to manage, analyze, and communicate knowledge and wisdom to drive better patient outcomes. They support evidence-based practice and policies backed by data—policies designed to improve the care of individuals, communities, and diverse populations.

Jobs in informatics are waiting to be filled. Your experience, along with a CCNE-accredited MSN degree, can be your ticket to a fulfilling career as an informatics nurse.

Informatics nurse specialists play a key role in boosting the level of care offered by a healthcare facility. With an MSN – Nursing Informatics degree from WGU, you will be prepared to use data to drive improved care across multiple settings. Take your nursing career to the next level: Become an informatic nurse.

What you’ll study: relevant curriculum developed by nursing informatics and healthcare data experts.

The WGU MSN – Nursing Informatics curriculum is evidence-based. Students learn to apply systems-thinking strategies and master the skill of transforming data into wisdom that better serves the healthcare needs of diverse populations.

In this online MSN program, you will develop knowledge related to the complexities of healthcare, access, quality, and costs for diverse populations. In the nursing informatics specialization, you'll become an expert at applying systems-thinking strategies to transform data into wisdom and using current technologies to work with teams across disciplines for the development and implementation of health education programs, evidence-based practices, and point-of-care policies.

A supported, personalized experience.

WGU is unlike any university you’ve experienced before—in the best possible way! Take a look at what we mean:

FacultyLearningAssessmentField ExperienceAlumni Support

Faculty

SUPPORTING YOU: Faculty focused on students.

WGU faculty members have one goal in mind: your success. Your Program Mentor is your individually assigned faculty member, providing guidance and instruction from the day you start to the day you graduate. In addition, Course Instructors provide subject-matter instruction and support, typically one-on-one, exactly when you need it.

Learning

YOUR ROADMAP: A personalized learning plan.

Your program is made up of a series of courses, each a personalized journey toward subject mastery. A preassessment provides insight into what you already know. You’ll then learn what you still need to learn, using online learning resources—available 24/7—along with one-on-one or cohort-based faculty instruction.

Assessment

PROVE IT: Show you know your stuff.

WGU measures learning, not time, so each course culminates in an assessment—a test, paper, project, or presentation that allows you to prove what you know. As soon as you’re ready, take the assessment—including the ability to take proctored exams from the comfort of your own home— via webcam, any time of day!

Field Experience

REAL-WORLD: Time in the field.

Most of your program will be completed online but all nursing programs include some learning that occurs in a healthcare facility. Sometimes that will be where you work; other times, it will require placement in a facility near you. We will help you make all the arrangements.

Alumni Support

ALWAYS a Night Owl: WGU for life.

Continued support after you graduate includes many opportunities for professional development and enrichment, career support, and networking. WGU Night Owls may be independent learners, but they also become highly engaged in our active alumni community through apps, groups, and events.

The accreditation you need, plus respect and recognition.

Healthcare and nursing employers want employees with the credentials that prove they can help improve patient care while streamlining facilities and strengthening their reputations. An important measure of a health degree’s value is whether it comes from an accredited university with programs that have been recognized for excellence by leading healthcare organizations.

Accredited

In addition to WGU's regional accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the bachelor’s and master’s nursing degree programs at WGU are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791).

Respected

“What we need are people who are truly versatile, able to learn efficiently and effectively. ... Those are the kind of people [who] represent graduates of Western Governors University.”

John Steele Senior Vice President of Human Relations HCA Healthcare

Recognized

The National League for Nursing named WGU’s nursing programs a Center of Excellence™ in Nursing Education for creating environments that enhance student learning and professional development.

Accredited

Respected

Recognized

Our programs check all the boxes. If this degree is your goal, get started toward becoming a student today—programs start the first of each month.

When we say affordable, we mean it.

This program also requires a one-time Health Professions Student Fee of $350.

Control the cost of your program: Our tuition links cost to time.

By charging per term rather than per credit—and empowering you to accelerate through material you know well or learn quickly—WGU helps you control the ultimate cost of your degree.

Flat-rate tuition of $3,945 per term links cost to time.

By charging per 6-month term rather than per credit hour—and empowering students to accelerate through material they know well or can learn quickly—WGU helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees.

There's help if you need it.

Financial aid is available.

Our goal: You graduate with little or no debt.

The average student loan debt of WGU graduates in 2016 (among those who borrowed) was less than half the national average. WGU’s three-pronged approach to keeping your debt low and your return on investment quick: One, provide useful information and advice on responsible borrowing before enrollment. Two, keep tuition low while you're enrolled. And three, offer degree programs that lead to better-paying jobs after graduation.

Degree Cost Comparison*

Online For-Profit University

Other Online Nonprofit University

WGU

Earn your MSN for about half what you’d pay elsewhere.

Low tuition and the ability to accelerate make WGU a more affordable option than most other schools. When you compare us with most any other university, WGU’s BSN-to-MSN – Nursing Informatics program offers rigorous curriculum with competitive post-graduation results for around half the cost—or even less—of similar nursing degree programs.

At WGU, we design our online nursing programs to be timely, relevant, and practical—all to ensure your degree is proof you really know your stuff.

Every course in your master's program focuses on a set of clearly defined competencies that you must prove you’ve learned—through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so learning what it takes to be outstanding in your career is at the heart of WGU’s MSN – Nursing Informatics (BSN to MSN) curriculum. In fact, it's at the heart of our philosophy as a university!

That means what you learn is often directly applicable the next day at work—and it means what you’re doing at work frequently informs the work you’re doing in your courses. It’s all about real-world applicability so every moment spent studying is time well spent.

Courses in this program.

This program consists of the following courses, which you will typically complete one at a time as you make your way through your program, working with your Program Mentor each term to build your personalized Degree Plan. You’ll work through each course as quickly as you can study and learn the material. As soon as you’re ready, you’ll pass the assessment, complete the course, and move on. This means you can finish as many courses as you're able in a term at no additional cost.

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Nursing Informatics

Foundations in Nursing Informatics

This course addresses the integration of technology to improve and support nursing practice. It provides nurses with a foundational understanding of nursing informatics theory, practice, and applications. Topics include the role of nursing in informatics; use of computer technology for clinical documentation, communication, and workflows; problem identification; project implementation; and best practices.

Data Modeling and Database Management Systems

This graduate course is designed to engage the student in planning, analyzing, and designing a relational database management system (DBMS) for use by nurse administrators, clinicians, educators, and informaticists. This experience will provide the knowledge needed to advocate for nursing informatics needs within the field of healthcare.

Nursing Informatics Field Experience

In the Nursing Informatics Field Experience, you will complete a hands-on field experience while working with a preceptor in a setting relevant to your professional situation and nursing informatics. Today’s rapidly changing health delivery system requires nurse informaticists to be prepared to effectively lead change and facilitate learning that is dynamic and meets the needs of a diverse student and professional nursing population. To help you develop competency in this area, you will apply methods and solutions to support clinical decisions and improve health outcomes by designing data collection instruments, developing a database management system and analyzing data using statistical and geospatial techniques in a simulated environment.

Informatics System Analysis and Design

In Informatics System Analysis and Design, a broad understanding of data systems is covered to build upon the Foundations in Nursing Informatics course. The importance of effective interoperability, functionality, data access, and user satisfaction are addressed. The student will be analyzing reports and integrating federal regulations, research principles, and principles of environmental health in the construction of a real-world systems analysis and design project. This course will be directly applicable to healthcare settings as electronic records management has become compulsory for healthcare providers. All of the information in this course will be directly tied to the delivery of quality patient care and patient safety.

Data Science and Analytics

This course addresses the interdisciplinary and emerging field of data science in healthcare. Students will learn to combine tools and techniques from statistics, computer science, data visualization, and the social sciences to solve problems using data. Topics include data analysis, database management, inferential and descriptive statistics, statistical inference, and process improvement.

Nursing Informatics Capstone

The Nursing Informatics Capstone is the final leg in your journey to graduation. During this course, you will present evidence of the knowledge and skills you gained during this program by completing a comprehensive evaluation of a health information system. You will develop a multimedia presentation that reviews and reflects on your learning experiences during the Nursing Informatics program. This scholarly presentation is a synthesis that illustrates the acquisition of nursing informatics knowledge, skills, and competencies. Your final presentation should demonstrate how the integration of nursing informatics facilitates the transformation of data and information to knowledge and wisdom in a nursing practice. The presentation will be developed using the best practices for narrated PowerPoint presentations (see the MSN Capstone Presentation section for details).

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MSN Professional Nursing Core

Translational Research for Practice and Populations

This graduate-level course builds on your baccalaureate-level statistical knowledge to help you develop skills in analyzing, interpreting, and translating research into nursing practice using principles of patient-centered care and applications to individuals and populations

Organizational Leadership and Interprofessional Team Development

This graduate-level course builds on baccalaureate-level leadership knowledge to develop application skills in complex healthcare environments with diverse teams. Graduates will develop knowledge and competencies in the following areas:
• leadership theory
• systems and complexity theory
• advanced communication
• building consensus
Knowledge, skills, and abilities related to creating cultures of safety and leading quality improvement are key parts of this course and of contemporary leadership. Most importantly, students will develop and establish deep understanding of leadership roles within organizations, a central theme in the course. Upon successful completion of this course, Students will demonstrate:
• critical decision making, critical analysis, and visionary thinking to lead and affect positive healthcare environments;
• the ability to build consensus and communicate a compelling vision that facilitates teamwork.

Professional Presence and Influence

Who we are and how we behave affects others. Our professional presence in therapeutic settings can support or inhibit well-being not only in patients, but also in the rest of the health care team, in the family and support system of the patients, and in the health care organization as a whole. This course will help registered nurses manage this impact by recognizing situations and practices that support a positive environment and cultivating actions and responses to achieve and maintain this environment. The growth of self-knowledge will expand nurses’ ability to direct influence in ways that are intended rather than in random or destructive ways.

Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice

In Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice, students will gain application skills by examining syndromes rather than looking at body systems independently. The course includes pathophysiologies, the associated pharmacological treatments, and social and environmental impacts Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice is an integrated examination of five common and important disease processes:
• asthma
• heart failure
• obesity
• traumatic brain injury
• depression
These processes are relevant to advanced nursing practice because of their prevalence and impact on the healthcare system and the health of the nation.

Comprehensive Health Assessment for Patients and Populations

In this course, students will learn about the principles of health assessment from the individual to the global level. Students will learn to perform a comprehensive functional health assessment that includes social structures, family history, and environmental situations, from the individual patient to the population. This course builds on prior knowledge gained in previous courses and in nursing practice, in areas such as pathophysiology, pharmacology, and epidemiology, and focus on applying this knowledge in various populations with common disorders.
This course is roughly divided into three parts:
• Advanced health assessment focusing on abnormal findings for common disease.
• Integrating health assessment findings into a population, considering such issue as culture, spirituality, and continuum.
• Functionality of clients based upon the problems and populations.

Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience

The Essentials of Advanced Nursing Practice Field Experience course gives you an opportunity to apply leadership knowledge to evaluate a healthcare facility and then recommend an organizational change to improve population health. In this course you will integrate and apply your learning in a clinical experience working with a nurse leader. You will demonstrate and document the following skills:
• lead change to improve quality health in populations
• advance a culture of excellence through lifelong learning
• build and lead collaborative interprofessional care teams
• navigate and integrate care services across the healthcare system
• design innovative nursing practices
• translate evidence into practice

Policy, Politics, and Global Health Trends

Social, political, and economic factors influence policies that impact health outcomes in acute care settings in communities, nationally and globally. Nurse leaders need to understand the determinants of health as well as how legal and regulatory processes, healthcare finances, research, the role of professional organizations, and special interest groups/lobbyists impact health outcomes.This course provides a framework for understanding the organization of healthcare delivery and financing systems in the U.S. and other nations. It addresses how policies are made and factors that influence policies at local, national, and global levels that impact health/wellness and the nursing profession. The roles of values, ethical theories, stakeholder interests, research, and recent legislation related to health policy and health outcomes will be explored. The nurse leader will gain expertise in effecting change through active participation in influencing or developing policies that impact health.

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Nursing Science

Advanced Information Management and the Application of Technology

In this course you will examine complementary roles of master’s level-prepared nursing information technology professionals, including informaticists and quality officers. You will analyze current and emerging technologies; data management; ethical legal and regulatory best-practice evidence; and bio-health informatics using decision-making support systems at the point of care.

Plan to work hard: Master's in nursing informatics program requirements and expectations

The MSN – Nursing Informatics (BSN to MSN) program is a mostly online nursing program that you will complete by studying and working independently with support and instruction from WGU faculty. You will be expected to complete at least 8 competency units (WGU's equivalent of the credit hour) each 6-month term. (Each course is typically 3 or 4 units.)

The first person you speak with at WGU will be your Enrollment Counselor, an expert in your program who can explain all the requirements and expectations in more detail. You can also read more about each course in the Program Guide.

Special requirements for our master's in nursing programs for RNs with their BSN:

While most of your coursework will be completed online, your nursing master's degree program includes some requirements—including field experiences—that must be completed in a facility near you, which the university will help you find.

We offer degrees for in-demand careers that provide the knowledge and skills you need to succeed. Give your résumé the boost it needs!

Quality you can trust: Curriculum developed with guidance from healthcare employers and experts.

Program councils—teams of industry and academic experts—drive the development of our programs, providing input on the competencies a successful graduate needs to have mastered.

How You'll Learn

A different kind of university: Our MSN program is built for a busy nurse’s schedule.

Think you can't fit school into your life? Competency-based education puts working nurses in the driver’s seat of their education. As a busy registered nurse (RN), you need a nursing degree program that's more than simply online—you need a program that truly reflects the realities of your work life and experience. At WGU, your progress is driven by your ability to prove what you’ve learned. How—and how quickly—are largely up to you. Once you’ve mastered the defined competencies (knowledge and skills), you prove what you know through tests, papers, projects, or other assessments. Demonstrating mastery is how you pass a course, so learning what it takes to be outstanding in your career is at the heart of WGU’s MSN – Nursing Informatics curriculum. Other universities' online M.S. programs may give you the convenience of distance learning; WGU's competency-based online programs take that flexibility further—many steps further!

“I learned a lot about doing research, which has helped me tremendously in my new position. You learn so much with this degree.”Jennifer Granger Brown
M.S. Nursing, 2014

Designed for working nurses.

Day shift, night shift, or on-call; flu season or the onslaught of summertime injuries; 5-minute coffee breaks where you’re still on your feet… A nurse’s schedule is never predictable—and not very forgiving. That’s why our programs focus on making the best use of your time and experience and why we maximize the real-world impact of what you’re learning—so your years as a nurse can help you graduate faster, and the hours of study time you squeeze in actually pay off at work.

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

How it helps you

Efficient

Save time and money by focusing efforts where they matter the most.

No two students are alike—especially working adult students with nursing experience. Students enroll in a university knowing different things, they learn at different speeds, and they have different amounts of time to spend studying. Competency-based education lets you prioritize where to spend your valuable time.

Results

Know you’re learning real-world skills.

You earn a nursing degree for results—not simply to accrue credits. Competency-based education centers on competencies—the clearly defined knowledge and skills that leading healthcare employers are looking for. How do we know what they’re looking for? They tell us—and their input drives our curriculum.

Finish courses by proving what you know, as soon as you’re ready.

With competency-based education at WGU, success is measured by actual learning, not class time. You advance by demonstrating that you've mastered the course subject matter—whether you learned it through your study at WGU or picked up that knowledge through years of work experience.

Your progress through a course is driven by you.

How quickly you learn

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The time you devote to studying

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How much previous knowledge you bring

See it in action.

Play the game to see how a competency-based course works at WGU.

competency, noun

Demonstrated knowledge, skill, or ability required to advance in a degree program.

At WGU, course competencies are defined by an expert council, including employers.

For this course, there are 3 areas you need to prove competency in.

Start

First, let's take a pre‑assessment.

Determine what you already know from previous work and education experience, and where you need to focus your studies. Prove your competency in 3 areas in this exercise.

Result:

Your experience pays at WGU.

A master’s degree in nurse informatics prepares you to drive decisions grounded in sound data.

Once you have completed your M.S. in Nursing – Nursing Informatics degree online, you will have the knowledge and skills it takes to be an outstanding informatics nurse.

And as an informatics nurse, you’ll play a crucial role in elevating the level of care in your facility and in today’s healthcare industry. You’ll empower your colleagues to make decisions, implement policies, and perfect practices that are proven to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

Nursing informatics: a fulfilling career that’s in high demand.

First things first: What is nursing informatics? Simply put, it’s the juncture of information technology, medical practice, and medical research. It uses data, statistics, and research to make smart decisions that improve healthcare.
In a survey of 576 healthcare professionals, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society found that respondents overwhelmingly felt informatics nurses had a significant impact on the quality of care patients receive, especially on implementation, optimization, workflow, and patient safety.

Explore a career in nursing informatics.

Get info about an informatics nurse's salary, job outlook, work environment, and more.

WGU is a university committed to producing successful grads.

The ultimate test of your degree's value is whether it helps you become an outstanding employee and advance your career. Our happy grads—and their happy employers—confirm that WGU is the path to that kind of degree.

Happy employers

Happy grads

They're Prepared.

Employers said that WGU graduates were prepared for their jobs.

They Perform.

Employers rated WGU graduates' job performance as very good or excellent.

They Wow.

Employers said their WGU graduates have exceeded their expectations.

They're Confident.

Graduates said the majority of their coursework was related to their jobs.

Your Enrollment Counselor is there to help you make an informed decision.

The first step toward change can be the hardest—we get it. Your "welcoming committee" at WGU is made up of Enrollment Counselors, Admissions Specialists, and faculty members. Your initial interactions at WGU will be guided by an Enrollment Counselor who specializes in the programs you're interested in.

WGU seeks to admit individuals who have the capacity and determination to complete a rigorous WGU degree program … and graduate. The admission process is designed to help you and the university reach an informed decision about your likelihood of success.

At WGU we want you to graduate, not just enroll. Consequently, not every applicant is admitted because not every individual is a good fit for WGU’s programs and competency-based, online academic model.

Common questions for College of Health Professions programs.

Do I have to pay the application fee to be admitted?

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Yes. You may talk to an Enrollment Counselor without paying the $65 application fee, but the fee must be paid before you can be admitted. The application fee helps defray our costs associated with admissions, transcript collection, enrolling students, etc. Note: It is against federal regulations to use financial aid for an application fee.

What is the deadline for transcript submission?

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Transcripts must be received by the 1st of the month before your intended start date. WGU requires that ALL official transcripts of previous academic work completed at other colleges and universities be submitted for evaluation.

How does WGU keep its tuition so low?

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As a nonprofit university, WGU doesn’t need to benefit shareholders. Our students are our only focus. We also try to keep our operating costs low. And since we’re an exclusively online university, we don’t need to maintain expensive classroom buildings, a campus, or other non-academic programs.

Should I consider financial aid?

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Using financial aid is a personal decision. When making this decision, you should know that a degree is a great investment in yourself that will pay for itself many times over. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree earn on average almost a million dollars more over the course their careers compared to those without one. A master’s degree typically has a similar impact on your wallet. You should definitely consider federal financial aid if it means the difference between getting your degree or not. Speak to an Enrollment Counselor to learn more.

Can a graduate of this program get into a nurse practitioner or other post-graduate nursing program?

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Admissions requirements vary widely from program to program and from school to school. Nurse practitioner programs—including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and post-MSN NP certificate programs—can be among the most competitive. One factor commonly considered for enrollment in post-graduate nursing programs is grade-point average (GPA) from previous college work. The nature of WGU’s competency-based model means WGU graduates do not have a GPA when they earn their degree.

However, other factors beyond GPA are considered by many programs across the country. WGU provides opportunities for students to students to demonstrate excellence beyond a GPA, including participation in nationally recognized honors programs, real-world projects that you complete as part of your program that you can showcase in your post-graduate applications, and letters of recommendation from WGU faculty or leadership.

For any aspiring graduate student, it is important to maximize your own qualities as well as do the research to understand the schools that offer the programs you seek to join.

You can start your research by reviewing this list of post-graduate programs that have admitted WGU alumni in the past. Look on LinkedIn for WGU nursing alumni who have gone on to become nurse practitioners, and check their profiles to see which schools they attended for the MSN or DNP program. Contact the school to ask whether they enroll students from competency-based programs like WGU’s. And talk to your WGU Enrollment Counselor. WGU can provide alumni with a letter they can share with graduate schools, explaining our competency-based model. This letter has helped WGU alumni be accepted into a variety of graduate programs in a number of fields and disciplines.

“The enrollment process was seamless. I talked to a gentleman on the phone, and he told me what I would need. I sent my transcripts in. Within three days they were evaluated. It was a really good process.”Robin Hill,
M.S. Nursing – Education

WGU is school on your terms.

School can fit into your life—start working toward your better future now.